Concepts of Leadership

I used to think that running an organization was equivalent to conducting a symp

hony orchestra. But I don't think that's quite it; it's more like jazz. There is
more improvisation. Warren Bennis
Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can be
come an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of
self-study, education, training, and experience (Jago, 1982). This guide will h
elp you through that process.
To inspire your workers into higher levels of teamwork, there are certain things
you must be, know, and, do. These do not come naturally, but are acquired throu
gh continual work and study. Good leaders are continually working and studying t
o improve their leadership skills; they are NOT resting on their laurels.
Definition of Leadership
The meaning of a message is the change which it produces in the image. Kenneth B
oulding in The Image: Knowledge in Life and Society
Before we get started, lets define leadership. Leadership is a process by which
a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organizati
on in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. This definition is similar
to Northouse's (2007, p3) definition Leadership is a process whereby an individ
ual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.
Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership knowledge and skills
. This is called Process Leadership (Jago, 1982). However, we know that we have
traits that can influence our actions. This is called Trait Leadership (Jago, 19
82), in that it was once common to believe that leaders were born rather than ma
de. These two leadership types are shown in the chart below (Northouse, 2007, p5
):

While leadership is learned, the skills and knowledge processed by the leader ca
n be influenced by his or hers attributes or traits, such as beliefs, values, et
hics, and character. Knowledge and skills contribute directly to the process of
leadership, while the other attributes give the leader certain characteristics t
hat make him or her unique.
Skills, knowledge, and attributes make the Leader, which is one of the:
Four Factors of Leadership
There are four major factors in leadership (U.S. Army, 1983):

Leader
You must have an honest understanding of who you are, what you know, and what yo
u can do. Also, note that it is the followers, not the leader or someone else wh
o determines if the leader is successful. If they do not trust or lack confidenc
e in their leader, then they will be uninspired. To be successful you have to co
nvince your followers, not yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of be
ing followed.
Followers
Different people require different styles of leadership. For example, a new hire
requires more supervision than an experienced employee. A person who lacks moti
vation requires a different approach than one with a high degree of motivation.
You must know your people! The fundamental starting point is having a good under
standing of human nature, such as needs, emotions, and motivation. You must come
to know your employees' be, know, and do attributes.
Communication
You lead through two-way communication. Much of it is nonverbal. For instance, w
hen you set the example, that communicates to your people that you would not ask t
hem to perform anything that you would not be willing to do. What and how you co
mmunicate either builds or harms the relationship between you and your employees
.
Situation
All situations are different. What you do in one situation will not always work
in another. You must use your judgment to decide the best course of action and t
he leadership style needed for each situation. For example, you may need to conf
ront an employee for inappropriate behavior, but if the confrontation is too lat
e or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove ineffective.
Also note that the situation normally has a greater effect on a leader's action
than his or her traits. This is because while traits may have an impressive stab
ility over a period of time, they have little consistency across situations (Mis
chel, 1968). This is why a number of leadership scholars think the Process Theor
y of Leadership is a more accurate than the Trait Theory of Leadership.
Various forces will affect these four factors. Examples of forces are your relat
ionship with your seniors, the skill of your followers, the informal leaders wit
hin your organization, and how your organization is organized.
Boss or Leader?
Although your position as a manager, supervisor, lead, etc. gives you the author
ity to accomplish certain tasks and objectives in the organization (called Assig
ned Leadership), this power does not make you a leader, it simply makes you the
boss (Rowe, 2007). Leadership differs in that it makes the followers want to ach
ieve high goals (called Emergent Leadership), rather than simply bossing people
around (Rowe, 2007). Thus you get Assigned Leadership by your position and you d
isplay Emergent Leadership by influencing people to do great things.

Bass' Theory of Leadership

Bass' theory of leadership states that there are three basic ways to explain how
people become leaders (Stogdill, 1989; Bass, 1990). The first two explain the l
eadership development for a small number of people. These theories are:
?Some personality traits may lead people naturally into leadership roles. This i
s the Trait Theory.
?A crisis or important event may cause a person to rise to the occasion, which b
rings out extraordinary leadership qualities in an ordinary person. This is the
Great Events Theory.
?People can choose to become leaders. People can learn leadership skills. This i
s the Transformational or Process Leadership Theory. It is the most widely accep
ted theory today and the premise on which this guide is based.
Total Leadership
What makes a person want to follow a leader? People want to be guided by those t
hey respect and who have a clear sense of direction. To gain respect, they must
be ethical. A sense of direction is achieved by conveying a strong vision of the
future.
When a person is deciding if she respects you as a leader, she does not think ab
out your attributes, rather, she observes what you do so that she can know who y
ou really are. She uses this observation to tell if you are an honorable and tru
sted leader or a self-serving person who misuses authority to look good and get
promoted. Self-serving leaders are not as effective because their employees only
obey them, not follow them. They succeed in many areas because they present a g
ood image to their seniors at the expense of their workers.
Be Know Do
The basis of good leadership is honorable character and selfless service to your
organization. In your employees' eyes, your leadership is everything you do tha
t effects the organization's objectives and their well-being. Respected leaders
concentrate on (U.S. Army, 1983):
?what they are [be] (such as beliefs and character)
?what they know (such as job, tasks, and human nature)
?what they do (such as implementing, motivating, and providing direction).
What makes a person want to follow a leader? People want to be guided by those t
hey respect and who have a clear sense of direction. To gain respect, they must
be ethical. A sense of direction is achieved by conveying a strong vision of the
future.
The Two Most Important Keys to Effective Leadership
According to a study by the Hay Group, a global management consultancy, there ar
e 75 key components of employee satisfaction (Lamb, McKee, 2004). They found tha
t:
?Trust and confidence in top leadership was the single most reliable predictor o
f employee satisfaction in an organization.
?Effective communication by leadership in three critical areas was the key to wi
nning organizational trust and confidence:
1.Helping employees understand the company's overall business strategy.
2.Helping employees understand how they contribute to achieving key business obj
ectives.
3.Sharing information with employees on both how the company is doing and how an
employee's own division is doing relative to strategic business objectives.
So in a nutshell you must be trustworthy and you have to be able to communicate
a vision of where the organization needs to go. The next section, Principles of
Leadership, ties in closely with this key concept.
Principles of Leadership
To help you be, know, and do, follow these eleven principles of leadership (U.S.
Army, 1983). Note that later chapters in this guide expand on these and provide
tools for implementing them:
1.Know yourself and seek self-improvement - In order to know yourself, you have
to understand your be, know, and do, attributes. Seeking self-improvement means
continually strengthening your attributes. This can be accomplished through self
-study, formal classes, reflection, and interacting with others.
2.Be technically proficient - As a leader, you must know your job and have a sol
id familiarity with your employees' tasks.
3.Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions - Search for ways
to guide your organization to new heights. And when things go wrong, they alway
s do sooner or later do not blame others. Analyze the situation, take corrective
action, and move on to the next challenge.
4.Make sound and timely decisions - Use good problem solving, decision making, a
nd planning tools.
5.Set the example - Be a good role model for your employees. They must not only
hear what they are expected to do, but also see. We must become the change we wa
nt to see - Mahatma Gandhi
6.Know your people and look out for their well-being - Know human nature and the
importance of sincerely caring for your workers.
7.Keep your workers informed - Know how to communicate with not only them, but a
lso seniors and other key people.
8.Develop a sense of responsibility in your workers - Help to develop good chara
cter traits that will help them carry out their professional responsibilities.
9.Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished - Communication
is the key to this responsibility.
10.Train as a team - Although many so called leaders call their organization, de
partment, section, etc. a team; they are not really teams...they are just a grou
p of people doing their jobs.
11.Use the full capabilities of your organization - By developing a team spirit,
you will be able to employ your organization, department, section, etc. to its
fullest capabilities.
Attributes of Leadership
If you are a leader who can be trusted, then those around you will grow to respe
ct you. To be such a leader, there is a Leadership Framework to guide you:
BE KNOW DO
BE a professional. Examples: Be loyal to the organization, perform selfless serv
ice, take personal responsibility.
BE a professional who possess good character traits. Examples: Honesty, competen
ce, candor, commitment, integrity, courage, straightforwardness, imagination.
KNOW the four factors of leadership follower, leader, communication, situation.
KNOW yourself. Examples: strengths and weakness of your character, knowledge, an
d skills.
KNOW human nature. Examples: Human needs, emotions, and how people respond to st
ress.
KNOW your job. Examples: be proficient and be able to train others in their task
s.
KNOW your organization. Examples: where to go for help, its climate and culture,
who the unofficial leaders are.
DO provide direction. Examples: goal setting, problem solving, decision making,
planning.
DO implement. Examples: communicating, coordinating, supervising, evaluating.
DO motivate. Examples: develop morale and esprit de corps in the organization, t
rain, coach, counsel.
Environment
Every organization has a particular work environment, which dictates to a consid
erable degree how its leaders respond to problems and opportunities. This is bro
ught about by its heritage of past leaders and its present leaders.
Goals, Values, and Concepts
Leaders exert influence on the environment via three types of actions:
1.The goals and performance standards they establish.
2.The values they establish for the organization.
3.The business and people concepts they establish.
Successful organizations have leaders who set high standards and goals across th
e entire spectrum, such as strategies, market leadership, plans, meetings and pr
esentations, productivity, quality, and reliability.
Values reflect the concern the organization has for its employees, customers, in
vestors, vendors, and surrounding community. These values define the manner in h
ow business will be conducted.
Concepts define what products or services the organization will offer and the me
thods and processes for conducting business.
These goals, values, and concepts make up the organization's personality or how
the organization is observed by both outsiders and insiders. This personality de
fines the roles, relationships, rewards, and rites that take place.
Roles ad Relationships
Roles are the positions that are defined by a set of expectations about behavior
of any job incumbent. Each role has a set of tasks and responsibilities that ma
y or may not be spelled out. Roles have a powerful effect on behavior for severa
l reasons, to include money being paid for the performance of the role, there is
prestige attached to a role, and a sense of accomplishment or challenge.
Relationships are determined by a role's tasks. While some tasks are performed a
lone, most are carried out in relationship with others. The tasks will determine
who the role-holder is required to interact with, how often, and towards what e
nd. Also, normally the greater the interaction, the greater the liking. This in
turn leads to more frequent interaction. In human behavior, its hard to like som
eone whom we have no contact with, and we tend to seek out those we like. People
tend to do what they are rewarded for, and friendship is a powerful reward. Man
y tasks and behaviors that are associated with a role are brought about by these
relationships. That is, new task and behaviors are expected of the present role
-holder because a strong relationship was developed in the past, either by that
role-holder or a prior role-holder.
Culture and Climate
There are two distinct forces that dictate how to act within an organization: cu
lture and climate.
Each organization has its own distinctive culture. It is a combination of the fo
unders, past leadership, current leadership, crises, events, history, and size (
Newstrom, Davis, 1993). This results in rites: the routines, rituals, and the way
we do things. These rites impact individual behavior on what it takes to be in g
ood standing (the norm) and directs the appropriate behavior for each circumstan
ce.
The climate is the feel of the organization, the individual and shared perceptio
ns and attitudes of the organization's members (Ivancevich, Konopaske, Matteson,
2007). While the culture is the deeply rooted nature of the organization that i
s a result of long-held formal and informal systems, rules, traditions, and cust
oms; climate is a short-term phenomenon created by the current leadership. Clima
te represents the beliefs about the feel of the organization by its members. This
individual perception of the feel of the organization comes from what the people b
elieve about the activities that occur in the organization. These activities inf
luence both individual and team motivation and satisfaction, such as:
?How well does the leader clarify the priorities and goals of the organization?
What is expected of us?
?What is the system of recognition, rewards, and punishments in the organization
?
?How competent are the leaders?
?Are leaders free to make decisions?
?What will happen if I make a mistake?
Organizational climate is directly related to the leadership and management styl
e of the leader, based on the values, attributes, skills, and actions, as well a
s the priorities of the leader. Compare this to ethical climate the feel of the or
ganization about the activities that have ethical content or those aspects of th
e work environment that constitute ethical behavior. The ethical climate is the
feel about whether we do things right; or the feel of whether we behave the way
we ought to behave. The behavior (character) of the leader is the most important
factor that impacts the climate.
On the other hand, culture is a long-term, complex phenomenon. Culture represent
s the shared expectations and self-image of the organization. The mature values
that create tradition or the way we do things here. Things are done differently in
every organization. The collective vision and common folklore that define the i
nstitution are a reflection of culture. Individual leaders, cannot easily create
or change culture because culture is a part of the organization. Culture influe
nces the characteristics of the climate by its effect on the actions and thought
processes of the leader. But, everything you do as a leader will affect the cli
mate of the organization.
For an activity, see Culture and Climate.
For information on culture, see Long-Term Short-Term Orientation.
The Process of Great Leadership
The road to great leadership (Kouzes & Posner, 1987) that is common to successfu
l leaders:
?Challenge the process - First, find a process that you believe needs to be impr
oved the most.
?Inspire a shared vision - Next, share your vision in words that can be understo
od by your followers.
?Enable others to act - Give them the tools and methods to solve the problem.
?Model the way - When the process gets tough, get your hands dirty. A boss tells
others what to do, a leader shows that it can be done.
?Encourage the heart - Share the glory with your followers' hearts, while keepin
g the pains within your own.
Next Steps
Go to Leadership Models
Return to the main Leadership Page
References
Bass, Bernard (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: learnin
g to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, 18, (3), Winter, 1990, 19-31.
Ivancevich, J., Konopaske, R., Matteson, M. (2007). Organizational Behavior and
Management. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Jago, A. G. (1982). Leadership: Perspectives in theory and research. Management
Science, 28(3), 315-336.
Kouzes, James M. & Posner, Barry Z. (1987). The Leadership Challenge. San Franci
sco: Jossey-Bass.
Lamb, L. F., McKee, K. B. (2004). Applied Public Relations: Cases in Stakeholder
Management. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Routledge.
Mischel, W. 1968. Personality and Assessment . New York: Wiley.
Newstrom, J. & Davis, K. (1993). Organization Behavior: Human Behavior at Work.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
Northouse, G. (2007). Leadership theory and practice. (3rd ed.) Thousand Oak, Lo
ndon, New Delhe, Sage Publications, Inc.
Rowe, W. G. (2007). Cases in Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
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Research. Bass, B. (ed.) New York: Free Press.
U.S. Army. (October 1983). Military Leadership (FM 22-100). Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office.